Today's Goal
By the end of today, you will be able to recognize all remaining consonants (semivowels, sibilants, aspirate) plus visarga and anusvara — completing your knowledge of the full Devanagari alphabet.
Semivowels (अन्तःस्थ) — Between Vowels and Consonants
These four sounds are 'in-between' — they flow like vowels but start like consonants. Each one corresponds to a vowel: इ→य, ऋ→र, ऌ→ल, उ→व.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| य | ya | like 'y' in 'yes' — as in योग (yoga) |
| र | ra | a soft, tapped 'r' — as in राम (Rāma) |
| ल | la | like 'l' in 'love' — as in लोक (loka, world) |
| व | va | between 'v' and 'w' — as in विष्णु (Viṣṇu) |
Sibilants (ऊष्मन्) — The Hissing Sounds
Three 's' sounds, each made at a different mouth position. English has only one 's' — Sanskrit has three! In IAST, ś has an acute accent, ṣ has a dot below.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| श | śa | palatal 's' — like 'sh' in 'ship' — as in शान्ति (śānti, peace) |
| ष | ṣa | retroflex 's' — tongue curled back — as in कृष्ण (Kṛṣṇa) |
| स | sa | dental 's' — like English 's' in 'sun' — as in संसार (saṃsāra) |
The Aspirate
A pure breath sound, like a sigh.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ह | ha | like 'h' in 'home' — as in हरि (Hari, a name of Viṣṇu) |
Anusvara (अनुस्वार) — The Nasal Dot
A dot above a letter (ं) that nasalizes the sound. In IAST it's written as ṃ. It appears constantly in the Gita — you'll see it in almost every verse. It takes the nasal quality of whatever consonant follows.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| संसार | saṃsāra | the cycle of rebirth |
| अहं | ahaṃ | I — as in BG 10.20: 'aham ātmā' (I am the Self) |
| संयोग | saṃyoga | union, connection |
Visarga (विसर्ग) — The Breath Mark
Two dots after a letter (ः) — a soft 'h' sound with an echo of the preceding vowel. In IAST it's written as ḥ. Extremely common at the end of Sanskrit words and in sandhi.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| नमः | namaḥ | salutation — as in 'namaḥ te' (salutations to you) |
| दुःख | duḥkha | suffering, sorrow — a key Gita concept |
| पुरुषः | puruṣaḥ | person, consciousness — ends with visarga |
Gītā Connection
The visarga and anusvara appear in nearly every line of the Gita. For instance, BG 2.11 begins: 'aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṃ prajñāvādāṃś ca bhāṣase' — notice the anusvara in tvaṃ and the visarga implied throughout. Recognizing these marks is essential for reading any Gita verse.
Practice
Identify whether each character is a semivowel, sibilant, or special mark.
- य (semivowel)
- श (sibilant — palatal)
- ष (sibilant — retroflex)
- व (semivowel)
- ह (aspirate)
- ं (anusvara)
- ः (visarga)
Write the IAST for these characters.
- श → śa
- ष → ṣa
- स → sa
- य → ya
- र → ra
- ं → ṃ
- ः → ḥ
Find the anusvara (ṃ) and visarga (ḥ) in these Gita words.
- संन्यास (saṃnyāsa — anusvara on सं)
- दुःख (duḥkha — visarga on दुः)
- अहं (ahaṃ — anusvara on हं)
- प्रणमः (praṇamaḥ — visarga at end)
Recap
You now know the complete Devanagari alphabet: 13 vowels, 25 stops, 4 semivowels, 3 sibilants, 1 aspirate, plus anusvara (ṃ) and visarga (ḥ). That's every sound in Sanskrit. The alphabet is done!
Coming Tomorrow
Tomorrow is where the magic happens — you'll learn how vowels attach to consonants using mātrā marks. This is the key to reading actual Devanagari text.